It Has To Be “Extra Virgin” (Olive Oil)

As some of you know I’ve had an amazing 14 clear months using EV Olive oil (3 tablespoons a day) only to suffer a recent flare up.

I came crashing down when I thought my “cure” was no more. I panicked and tried the “big hitters”, Bev’s probiotic, glutamine, diet change and regular exercise. There was some success with this and my symptoms stopped getting any worse but still remained. I was convinced something sinister was causing this flare because things were previously so good for so long. I appeared to have a blockage and even went to my GP requesting an urgent referral.

Another 2 weeks passed with bearable symptoms when I realized that the bottle of oil I use for work 5-6 days a week was not “Extra Virgin” (doh), almost identical bottles but not the purest stuff. I had been using this for about 6 weeks which coincides very timely with my 4 week flare.

I know it was down to the poorer quality olive oil, the blood has now finally gone and everything is back to normal. I will continue with some of the additional measures I tried because there was proof of a further health benefit (though due to my approach), hard to say which.

There is also an important lesson here, I don’t blame my wife for buying/ordering the wrong bottle as I am ultimately responsible for my well being. There is plenty of evidence around to know we should never rely entirely on others (whoever they may be) to maximize our health. Using this great site is a good step to achieving this and helping ourselves.

So for those of you trying olive oil for treating ulcerative colitis, please make sure you use the best quality available and do not miss a dose. For those of you who are not or gave up because it appeared to stop working for me, why not go for it?

Trust me, I’m not a doctor! Be well..

Graham

About Graham from England

I'm from South Eastern England and I've been living with ulcerative colitis now for over 10 years.

Hi Bev/OrdinaryWorldWhereRU ,
Sorry for the delayed update Bev but wanted to be certain about what had happened and the information provided here. Nice to hear from you and hope you are well.

For any of you who wish to find out more on this amazing solution my earlier post is under Diet – alternative medicine. I take a tablespoon every 8 hours or so on an empty stomach, so usually 1st thing in the morning and last thing at night.

Dont just take my word for it, in addition to the other links I have placed relating to the research, here is yet another..

Good on you Emil and as you say no effort. Especially compared to what we have already been through, the benefits of EVOO were proven before anyone knew it could work on UC. My link above does have information suggesting older oil loses some of its benefits, if you find it beneficial I would buy a new bottle….

Have had mild UC for most of my adult life, never had any flare ups that were painful. Just bloody stool but luckily no cramping. Went for a colonoscopy the other day and Doctor said it went a little higher and was active. Told to take 4 apriso which I did then had terrible diarrhea all day. Didnt take them the next day but now have bad abdominal cramping and going to the bathroom constantly. Seems like this test made my UC worse! Never ever felt like this! Due to the holiday weekend my doctor isn’t in and I think I could wait until Monday to see her. Have used the enema’s which made me nauseous and will see what she says on Monday. Reading about these alternatives leads me to ask if you used evoo while it bothered you or whe you felt better. Any help appreciated!

Yep. Sounds typical. Meds can make things worse…and colonoscopies can as well. I hate to tell the truth, but the medical profession is WAY off base in treating this condition. WAY OFF BASE.

Natural is the ONLY way to go, especially in the long term. I’ll say it again…WE HAVE TO DO THE WORK…WE HAVE TO FIND OUT, BY TRIAL AND ERROR, WHAT WORKS FOR OURSELVES. Remember…each one of us is different, as well. It is not one size fits all. Try things for at least one month, though…Rome wasn’t built in a day…sorry for the cliché.

Well said Bev, this could be the most serious thing we ever have to prepare for. Prepare yes because doing so may provide quality of life when lets face it, we are all too young for this s**t! We achieve qualifications for jobs and work, or if lucky just to be educated. This is the big one and we can all move forward with confidence with some understanding of the subject. Trial and error, it may even take years but we have to do the work ourselves, we have some of the information and the rest is on the way….

Helen, EVOO works on keeping me well but even better as a remission/maintenance therapy. It hasn’t pulled me out of the flare entirely but it is not a drug with nasty side effects, it is very good for you so nothing to lose.

Dear Graham,
Just wanted to say a big thank you for sharing your experience and to all the others on this platform for their contributions.
Without your advice I would not be travelling through Asia where I am now enjoying foods and walking through Singapore!

I suffered badly this year and almost ended in hospital with a combination of influenza and intestinal infection. So everyone here knows what this means for us. Being thin already I lost additional 3 kg and could not eat and had a hard time coping with business travels as in my new job nobody knew about my UC….
Anyway after having been very desperate and researching all kind (mostly German sites)I came across your storry. LUCKILY!
So tried olive oil that I have in the house anyway and use for cooking. Even after a couple of days it worked and i could travel.
It took another 3 – 5 weeks to recover completely! Now i feel even better than before and cut down foam from one day to another which never worked in my 13 years history before.
I cannot thank you enough! I have back quality and feel very blessed.
Luckily we used to have an olive plantation in Morocco where I know for sure that olive oil is produced purely and in the old ancient way.
So dad is coming in May back to Germany with more supply and I am very lucky olive oil is part of my cultural diet anyway and is curative.

Thank you Globetrotter! Messages of well being like yours are so rewarding, I will continue to learn and share what I can on this subject! I also urge people who have had success with this to do the same, it will help others as well as ourselves obviously. We could still learn a great deal more on dosage and what type of oil truly is best for our health. Your story may carry more weight in the main Evoo story, so (if no one objects) could you also copy and paste it there please? A strange request maybe but people still wont believe, we are indoctrinated in our views on pharmaceuticals it seems.

By the way, I would love to try that Moroccan oil, or any Evoo that I knew was truly 100%.

Just an update. Thanks to Graham, my daughter has been taking three tablespoons of EVOO a day on an empty stomach for about three weeks and like I said earlier, the blood in her stool disappeared on the second day (she’s also taking Asacol, mesalamine enemas, and what I call “Bev and Lane protocol” of probiotics and prebiotin, l-glutamine, fish oil, astaxanthin).
Our pediatrician thinks that the Evoo effect might be due to the oil not getting absorbed in the stomach, going straight to the large intestine, coating the intestinal wall, and healing the ulcers.) However, her stools are still pretty loose (sometimes better formed than others) 2-4 times a day.
So I was also wondering if olive oil on an empty stomach can cause more frequent, loose, or less formed stools? (I recall that when my grandmother was constipated, she would take some oil on an empty stomach as a laxative, which always worked.) Any thoughts on that?

You are correct that EVOO is a laxative. I would recommend Glutamine as it not only helps rebuild the lining of the colon, but acts to slow down the digestive system. The longer waste is in the colon, the more water that is removed, thus a better end result (literally).

I don’t know why I didn’t already know that. Makes perfect sense. L-glut does not simply coat the colon, but HEALS it…therefore, slowing the digestion process down. When we are sick with UC, everything just goes right through us…faster than it should, allowing for almost no absorption, thus the deficiencies and weight loss.

Great news Ana..
I had not heard it put quite like that before but your pediatrician makes a well informed judgement I’m sure. From what we can gather here (very early days) Evoo and most probably other oils travel a long way indeed. I may have posted this information on the other Evoo page but research proved that inflammation was reduced and or non existent where oleic acid (in Evoo) was present in the colon. It may not go all the way though, both myself and another UC’er (from Twitter) still has inflammation near the very end. In my case, an additional thickened anal canal, so I have decided to go with more fruit and vegetables, less meat.

I am sure your theory is correct, like with your daughter, I would presume a softer stool is desirable and less of an irritant. It should also speed up digestive transit time which reduces the presence of poor bacteria, apparently. If mine are softer like this for a year and the (invisible) healing continues, I shall be happy.

I also think the evoo and l-glutamine work well together. I have noticed when I am lax on the L-Glutamine, I can see a trace amount of blood in the mucus in my poo. Once I become diligent it clears up. Some days I wish I had a microscope! Ana, I am so happy for you and your daughter. I can’t imagine finding answers about this disease for my child. It is difficult enough figuring out my own body much less someone elses. Kudos!

Recent Reviews

I am a Mom of a teeneager diagnosed wit UC and when I was searching for common ground,comfort and the real story this was it! I haven't finished the book but I have already taken away suggestions for my son's care and utilized them. So that was worth already the cost of the book and recipes. Thank you Adam and I will review again, I am sure positive, when I have time to finish reading and applying!

I found Adam’s book to be very information on about having UC. I am a mom of a UCer but I also have digestive issues. It can be overwhelming at times and Adams book brought me hope. I highly recommend it as a book to help you find your way through it.

Thank you for sharing your story and journey to remission Adam. I am integrating some of your ideas and asking more questions of my health care practitioners to get on my own path to remission faster. Also, the immediate changes I made in my diet has been encouraging to alleviate some symptoms.

Thank you again. I look forward to the next iteration of your cook book.

What an amazing resource. It definitely opened my eyes to the world of UC. I love how realistic Adam was about all the different treatments, and the details of the struggles to get to remission. While it definitely wasn’t what I wanted to hear (I think we can all agree it would be nice if we could just wake up and feel better), it was definitely comforting to know I’m not the only one struggling hardcore to get to remission so that I can hopefully control my pancolitis with lifestyle and not medications eventually. The book had me laughing at times and in tears from being able to relate to the struggles. Thank you so much for writing this book. It’s been such a valuable resource in so many ways, including helping me learn ways to share information so my family and friends can have a better understanding of what it’s like. So again, thank you for this Adam. It is a must read for anyone struggling to gather as much information as possible.

I honestly felt like you wrote my biography. I've lived my life the same way you did, eating, drinking and partying without having to worry. I did have signs along the way as well but didn't take to much notice to it until the blood showed up. I was diagnosed in October 2016 and at the time my GI told me it had nothing to do with my diet, so I lived my life the same way I always did. I've been trying many different meds without little or no results. After my 29th birthday in June 2017 I started feeling more sick and the weight loss had started, I've always been a skinny guy and ever since I lost quiet a bit of weight which has been something that just makes me feel more uncomfortable. I consulted a Homeopath in October 2017 and she started me on the Paleo diet, while researching that I came across your site and the SCD diet which I started in December 2017. I didn't do any of the diets a 100%, but I did start seeing results. I went a bit off the rails during the festive season while traveling but I'm easing into the SCD diet again and plan on going 100% this weekend. UC has caused a lot of stress for me but I've come to accept it and look at it in a positive way. My goal is to eat healthy, put some weight back on and start living a normal life again. I haven't let UC stop me from living my life although it has limited me, but thats all going to change! Thank you for sharing your story and being an inspiration to all of us.